Caregivers of infants often use changing stations to change diapers of the infants. Many of these can be ergonomically designed so that the caregiver does not have to bend over too much while changing the infant. Similarly, many tables have been provided that can be adjusted in height so that a caregiver can readily bath an infant while in a comfortable position. Many changing stations can be customized for the convenience of the caregiver. For example, changing stations can be customized with a variety of accessories. These types of changing stations, however, may be limited in versatility and can truly only be used for one purpose—a baby changing station. After the infant has grown, the caregiver may be stuck with an expensive piece of furniture that does not have another value.
Most infant changing stations are made to sit at waist height to eliminate the need for the caregiver to bend or kneel while changing the diaper of the infant. Very few changing stations allow for height adjustment. Accordingly, options may be limited for caregivers that do not fit into the average height for which most changing stations are designed. In addition, changing stations that do have height adjustment capabilities may be unsteady with very little, if any, capabilities to fix accessories thereto, i.e., baby entertainment units, etc. There have been some changing stations that incorporate a baby bath, along with additional storage. These units, however, can be quite bulky. Arranging such a station to fit into one room can prove to be quite difficult.
One type of infant care center is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,595 to Libretti. The Libretti '595 patent discloses a child infant care play center including a table having a recessed bathtub in a changing table/bed that is movably disposed over the top. The table included flexible conduit having a faucet attached at one end that is extractable from and retractable into a divider that is used to demarcate the various areas on the infant care center. The system also includes a mobile mounted over the infant care area that may be actuated to rotate with an accompanying melody. A baby monitor is included and may be fixed to the upper surface of the table. A free-standing booster chair is also included that converts to a training toilet, and can be movably supported on an edge portion of the table. The system disclosed in the Libretti '595 patent, however, is somewhat bulky, and will not have use after the infant has been potty trained, and is able to take a bath in a typical bathtub.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,441 to Mahmood et al. discloses a multi-purpose console for use in a vehicle having an armrest. The console is adapted to be used as an infant changing station that includes storage compartments, and an electronic entertainment device. The device disclosed in the Mahmood et al. '441 patent, however, is primarily designed for use in vehicles, and would have little purpose as a primary infant care station. Other multi-purpose diaper changing stations are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,503 to Betker discloses a diaper changing station that incorporates voice and/or voice instructions in any variety of languages that is activated by a motion detector, manual depression of a button, or by lowering a changing platform into a position of use.
There exists a need for a multi-functional infant care and organizer system that can be readily used for several different purposes.